Itou Sachio/Trivia
*Sachio was born in 1864, as Itou Koujirou (Sachio is his pen name), the fourth son of a wealthy farmer. In 1877, he became a pupil of Satou Shumpo, a local scholar, and studied Chinese classical literature. He went to Meiji Law School with the intention of becoming a lawyer, but had to abandon his studies due to serious eye problems. *He had once desired to go to America, but decided against it to care for his aged parents. *He went to Tokyo in November, 1885, to become an apprentice in a dairy. In Spring 1889 he was able to open his own business in Tokyo. As far as records show, Sachio's first twenty nine years are devoid of poetry. *Sachio was known in the Literary Section of Nihon because of his articles on the nature of poetry. He challenged (with great enthusiasm and critique) Shiki's "Letters to Poets", which was later published in the same newspaper in 1898. However, they realized that the two had a lot in common and held admiration for each other. In the start of 1900, Sachio called on Shiki (who was confined to his sickbed) to become a pupil of Shiki. Sachio was (on poetry) "firmly convinced that he was the greatest master since the days of the Manyo." *Sachio then came to one of Shiki's meeting in January 1900, where some of the members derided him and considered him uneducated and a laughingstock. The man himself was older than Shiki, "enormous", and wore two pairs of heavy glasses because he was very nearsighted. Shiki, however, appreciated the genius of Sachio. * Shiki was in charge of the literary page of the Nihon and printed Sachio's poem. Sachio "could not sleep one whole night when (his) poems were printed." Sachio deeply admired Shiki, and with great intensity, he strove to meet his teacher's goals. When the monthly gathering had themes of "Waterfall" and "Pines", he travelled to places known for those features in order to develop his poetry. *Sachio wrote an essay on his mentor, Shiki, in an attempt to dispel his mentor's reputation of being cold, rational, and lacking affection. Sachio described his teacher as an "emotional, tenderhearted man extremely given to weeping." *Sachio would take turns with Hekigotou and Kyoshi, Shiki's other disciples, in caring for their mentor, who was incapacitated to his bed due to spinal tuberculosis. *Shiki died in 1902 and his poetry group (Negishi) drifted apart. Sachio, Nagatsuka (writer of "The Soil", also deeply involved with Shiki), and others founded a journal, Ashibi, which ran from 1903 to 1908. Sachio was the editor-in-chief, and the editorial office was at his house. *Sachio published his essays and poetry in Ashibi. He also wrote criticisms about the Myoujou school, like Akiko and her poetry. He was indignant towards Myoujou and their ignorance of the poetic tradition. *In a letter to a friend, Souseki once criticized Sachio's poetry, claiming he "worshipped Shiki to the point of absurdity... composing silly poems for dear life" and that he cannot "talk poetics" (partly because of how uneducated he was). *Sachio was very impressed by Souseki's novel, "I am a Cat", which was published in Hototogisu (1905). He began writing a fiction, "A Wild Chrysanthemum's Grave", which serialized in the same magazine in 1906. Souseki approved of the novel. Sachio would break into tears when he would read aloud his novel, a love story, to his friends, causing many to believe that the novel may have been partly autobiographical. *Younger poets met at Sachio's house every month to discuss and compose poems, much like how Sachio gathered with others at Shiki's. *In 1908, Araragi was founded, and Sachio was basically the editor-in-chief there until his death (1913). *Under Sachio's leadership, and eventually his disciple Mokichi, the line of poets descending from Shiki became known as Araragi (after the magazine). It eclipsed Myoujou (Morning Star) and became the dominant tanka group. *Sachio was also devoted to tea, and built a tea arbor in the garden of his Honjo house. *Sachio died in 1913 from a cerebral hemorrhage. His writings were collected posthomously by his pupils in 1920, and in 1931, his verse and essays on poetry were published in four volumes.